(TULLAHOMA, Tenn.) — A twin-engine propeller plane carrying nearly two dozen skydivers crashed Sunday afternoon near a Tennessee airport, authorities said.
Multiple people were injured in the crash, including one critically, authorities said. No deaths were reported, according to the Tullahoma Police Department.
The crash occurred in Tullahoma, about 77 miles southeast of Nashville, police said.
The skydiving flight was operated by Skydive Tennessee, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Twenty people were aboard the plane, according to the according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Skydive Tennessee said there were 20 licensed skydivers and a pilot. There were no students on board, the company said.
Six passengers were hospitalized, including one in critical condition, following the crash, officials said. Of those six, two were sent by helicopter and four by ground transport.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center said Monday it received four of the plane crash victims, including one in critical condition and three in stable condition.
Two people have since been released from the hospital, Skydive Tennessee said Monday.
The crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time, shortly after the aircraft departed from the Tullahoma Regional Airport, according to the Tullahoma Police Department.
The plane, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, was flying “in support of skydiving operations” for the company when it “experienced an aborted takeoff” near the airport, Skydive Tennessee said in a statement.
A photo released on social media by the Tennessee Highway Patrol showed the plane in the aftermath of the crash with its nose on the ground and one of its wings missing.
The plane was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder, nor was it required to have either, according to the NTSB.
Required maintenance checks were confirmed and up to date at the time of the flight, according to Skydive Tennessee.
“We are incredibly grateful for the quick actions of our pilot, whose response likely prevented a far more serious outcome,” Hans Paulsen, the owner of Skydive Tennessee, said in a statement. “While the incident has understandably shaken us all, we’re relieved that no one was seriously injured. We’re also deeply appreciative of the first responders who arrived so quickly and acted with professionalism and care. Our focus now is on supporting the investigation and our community.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA.
ABC News’ Chris Barry and Faith Abubey contributed to this report.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is placed in the back seat of a truck by ICE agents after arriving in Nashville, Tenn., June 6, 2025. ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — To characterize the Trump administration as “having complied” with a federal judge’s order to facilitate the return of mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia is “pure farce,” his attorneys said in a court filing.
The filing, on Sunday, came two days after Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. from his native El Salvador to face criminal charges in Tennessee, following a series of court battles in which the Trump administration repeatedly said it was unable to bring him back.
In April, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States after he was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — based on the Trump administration’s claimed that he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his wife and attorneys deny.
The Maryland ruling was subsequently affirmed by the U.S Supreme Court.
Following Abrego Garcia’s return Friday, the Trump administration filed a notice of compliance with Judge Xinis saying it had “successfully facilitated Abrego Garcia’s return” and asking that the complaint be dismissed.
In Sunday’s filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said Maryland case it not over until the government is “held accountable” for “its blatant, willful, and persistent violations of court orders at excruciating cost to Abrego Garcia and his family.” They argued that, despite his return, the case is “not moot” because the court continues to have a role “to ensure that [Abrego Garcia’s] case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
The lawyers said the Trump administration “has acted not just in contempt of multiple court orders but with open defiance towards its coequal branch of government, the judiciary.”
“Instead of facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return, for the past two months Defendants have engaged in an elaborate, all-of-government effort to defy court orders, deny due process, and disparage Abrego Garcia,” they said.
A two-count indictment unsealed Friday alleges that Abrego Garcia participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country, involving the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars.
The criminal investigation that led to the charges was launched in April as federal authorities began scrutinizing the circumstances of a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to sources. Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they had been working construction in Missouri.
In Sunday’s court filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys called the government’s return of Abrego Garcia to face criminal charges “its latest act of contempt.”
The government “arranged for Abrego Garcia’s return, not to Maryland in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive to ‘ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,’ but rather to Tennessee so that he could be charged with a crime in a case that the Government only developed while it was under threat of sanctions,” they said.
In the filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said the Trump administration “continued to insist” they did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. even after the Tennessee indictment was filed under seal in May. The Trump administration “has always had the ability to return Abrego Garcia,” the attorneys contended.
“The Government’s convenient ability to return Abrego Garcia in time for a press conference unveiling his indictment puts the lie to its previously feigned powerlessness to comply with this Court’s injunction,” they said in reference to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s announcement Friday afternoon that Abrego Garcia was back in the United States.
A Justice Department official, when contacted for comment, referred ABC News to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statement at Friday’s press conference that he believed the Maryland case was now moot.
“There’s a big difference between what the state of play was before the indictment and after the indictment,” Blanche said. “And so the reason why he is back and was returned was because an arrest warrant which was presented to the government and in El Salvador. So there’s a big difference there as far as whether it makes the ongoing litigation in Maryland moot — I would think so.”
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said they are entitled to examine in discovery whether government officials acted in good faith, and said the case “remains live” given the Trump administration’s “continuing threat of removal.” Judge Xinis in April ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery in order to resolve Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin, Katherine Faulders and James Hill contributed to this report.
(LAS VEGAS) — Two people were killed in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip late on Sunday, police said, adding that it appeared to be a targeted killing that followed an online argument.
A suspect had been identified, but not yet arrested, Undersheriff Andrew Walsh told reporters in a news conference.
Police on patrol near the Bellagio Hotel & Casino heard gunshots at about 10:40 p.m., the Las Vegas Metro Police said. As officers arrived on the scene, they found two people with gunshot wounds, both of whom were later pronounced dead, Walsh said.
Walsh described the shooting as an isolated and targeted incident. He said it came after a victim and the suspect argued on social media, he said.
“It is believed that the suspect and the victims knew each other and had previously engaged in conflict over social media prior to the shooting,” police said in a statement.
Police said the shooting was outside on the 3600 block of S. Las Vegas Boulevard. The department in a subsequent messaged said homicide police were responding to the area.
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Less than two days after Elon Musk slammed President Donald Trump over the megabill moving through Congress, the billionaire appeared to remove several of his most scathing posts on X that targeted the president, including one that insinuated Trump was in the Epstein files.
Musk posted on Thursday, without providing evidence, a claim that the Department of Justice hasn’t released its files into its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex-trafficking minors in 2019, because Trump is in them.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” he wrote. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
That post was removed overnight and had disappeared Saturday morning, with the link to the post now showing a message that said, “Nothing to see here.”
Musk’s apparent move to remove the Epstein post came just hours after he made another critical post Friday night, in which he wrote he would apologize to Trump “as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.” That post was also later deleted.
Trump dismissed Musk’s claims in an interview with NBC News released Saturday.
“That’s called ‘old news.’ That’s been old news. That has been talked about for years. Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it — it’s old news,” he said.
“It’s old news. This has been talked about for years and years. And as you know, I was not friendly with Epstein for probably 18 years before he died. I was not at all friendly with him,” Trump added.
The president expressed disappointment in the criticism and threatened to cut federal contracts to Musk’s businesses.
On Friday, he told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that he was “not particularly” interested in talking with Musk.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” he asked.
Later Friday evening, Trump told reporters, “I’m not thinking about Elon Musk. I just wish him well.”
Trump has previously posted, “I was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island,” and he has not publicly objected to the release of the files now under review at the DOJ.
Trump’s previous association with Epstein and the appearance of his name in an address book and on flight logs of Epstein’s plane has been widely reported. However, that does not indicate Trump had any involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Vice President JD Vance said in a podcast interview released Friday that Musk’s accusation is “absolutely not” true, and he added that he hopes Musk “comes back into the fold.”
Musk also deleted a repost of an X user who called for Trump’s impeachment and for him to be replaced by Vance. “Yes,” Musk wrote in response to the post, appearing to support the idea.
It was not clear when exactly the posts were removed.
However, several of Musk’s other posts critical of the president remain on his account as of Saturday morning, including one claiming Trump would have lost the election without his help.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — A now-suspended Florida sheriff accused of helping expand and protect an illegal gambling operation was granted $1 million bond on Friday.
Marcos Lopez, 56, was arrested and charged Thursday with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, both first-degree felonies, in connection with what prosecutors called a “massive” illegal gambling operation in Central Florida, including Lake and Osceola counties.
The operation generated more than $21.6 million in illicit proceeds, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Lopez, who was first elected to serve as the sheriff of Osceola County in 2020, allegedly took campaign contributions and personal payments from the operation before going on to play a “multifaceted role in expanding and protecting this illegal enterprise, using his office to shield the enterprise from law enforcement,” the office said.
The charging document alleges Lopez and others charged in the case committed money laundering, operated a gambling house in Kissimmee and illegally possessed slot machines. Lopez is also accused, in his capacity as sheriff of Osceola County, of receiving “unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior” and using confidential information with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation, according to the document.
The allegations in a 255-page affidavit detail an “extreme breach of public trust,” prosecutor Panagiota Papakos said during Lopez’s first court appearance on Friday.
Text messages between Lopez and his alleged co-conspirators dating back to 2019 show his alleged involvement in the illegal enterprise, including sourcing new locations and screenshots of slot machines, according to Papakos. Lopez allegedly used his influence as sheriff to “facilitate this illegal enterprise” and “potentially obstruct criminal investigation into these businesses in Osceola County,” she said.
Since 2020, he allegedly obtained $600,000 to $700,000 in cash payments from the illegal enterprise, Papakos said.
The state requested $600,000 bond for each count, for a total of $1.2 million, citing in part the seriousness of the alleged offenses.
Lopez’s defense attorney argued that such a bond would be very high for the nature of the crime and “tantamount to no bond,” given what his family could afford. She asked for $25,000 bond for each count, for a total of $50,000, citing his lack of criminal history, “extreme ties” to the community and the non-dangerous nature of the offenses. She also asked that the court not treat Lopez any differently, merely because of his title, and still look at him “as a regular individual.”
Judge Emily Curington ultimately set his bond at $500,000 for each count, with conditions including that he undergo GPS monitoring and surrender his passport should he post bond. She also asked that the source of the funds be shown to the state, after Papakos expressed concerns about them coming from “any illegal enterprise or illegal proceeds.”
During the hearing, Lopez asked the judge how he would start the bond process. He currently remains in custody, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s website.
His next court date has been scheduled for June 30. He has yet to enter a plea.
BREAKING! Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez was arrested by @HSITampa following an investigation into a criminal organization operating an illegal gambling enterprise throughout Central Florida, particularly in Lake and Osceola Counties, which generated $21.6+ million in… pic.twitter.com/hVazzAo5Ba
The investigation remains ongoing, and other charges may be announced at a later date, the Florida Attorney General’s Office said.
“This is a solemn day for Florida and our law enforcement community. We put great trust in our constitutional officers, especially those who are our communities’ first line of defense,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement on Thursday. “However, the law must be applied equally, regardless of position, power, or branch of government. Public servants should never exploit the public’s trust for personal gain.”
Lopez has been suspended per an executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. Christopher Blackmon, the Central Region chief for the Florida Highway Patrol, was appointed as the Osceola County sheriff, according to DeSantis’ order.
(DOUGLASVILLE, Ga) — A Georgia couple is now behind bars after allegedly leaving a 3-year-old alone in a backyard shed for weeks, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sarah Elizabeth Pombert, 34, and Joseph Matthew Turner, 35, were arrested on Monday after allegedly keeping 3-year-old Bjorn Turner in a backyard shed in Douglasville, Georgia, from May 1 to May 22, according to an arrest warrant obtained by ABC News on Friday.
The shed was described as a “dirty living space” that did not have running water or electricity, according to the warrant.
The suspects allegedly left the child “unsupervised, unbathed and unclothed with criminal negligence,” according to the warrant.
The two were arrested for second-degree child cruelty and are currently being held in the Douglas County Jail, according to jail records.
Neither Pombert nor Turner has a defense attorney listed as of Friday, according to court records.
One of the couple’s neighbors, Matthew Govoni, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB that the shed burned down during Memorial Day weekend, but officials have not disclosed how they became aware of the child living there.
The Douglas County Fire Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Govoni told WSB that Pombert and Turner have lived in their home for more than a decade and was “not surprised” to hear about the child’s living conditions due to “the lifestyle they live.”
“I’m saddened for them and the child, but I mean, for the child, I hope they can get to a place where they can be helped,” Govoni told WSB.
(TENNESSEE) Mistakenly deported Salvadoran native Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been brought back to the United States where he will face criminal charges for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S.
More than two months after the Trump administration admitted it mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia from Maryland to his native El Salvador, a federal grand jury has indicted him for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the United States.
A two-count indictment, which was filed under seal in federal court in Tennessee last month and unsealed Friday, alleges Abrego Garcia, 29, participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country.
The alleged conspiracy spanned nearly a decade and involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.
Abrego-Garcia is alleged to have participated in more than 100 such trips, according to the indictment. Among those allegedly transported were members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Abrego-Garcia is the only member of the alleged conspiracy charged in the indictment.
His return to the U.S. comes after the Trump administration repeatedly said that they were unable to bring him back despite his mistaken deportation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, at a Friday afternoon press conference, thanked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for “agreeing to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.”
“Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country,” Bondi said.
Bondi said that if Abrego Garcia is convicted of the charges, upon the completion of his sentence he will be deported back to his home country of El Salvador.
“The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring,” Bondi said. “They found this was his full time job, not a contractor. He was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country.”
The decision to pursue the indictment against Abrego Garcia led to the abrupt departure of Ben Schrader, a high-ranking federal prosecutor in Tennessee, sources briefed on Schrader’s decision told ABC News. Schrader’s resignation was prompted by concerns that the case was being pursued for political reasons, the sources said.
Schrader, who spent 15 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and was most recently the chief of the criminal division, did not respond to messages from ABC News seeking comment.
In a statement to ABC News, Abrego Garcia’s attorney said that he’s going to keep fighting to ensure Abrego Garcia receives a fair trial.
“From the beginning, this case has made one thing painfully clear: The government had the power to bring him back at any time. Instead, they chose to play games with the court and with a man’s life,” said attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “We’re not just fighting for Kilmar — we’re fighting to ensure due process rights are protected for everyone. Because tomorrow, this could be any one of us — if we let power go unchecked, if we ignore our Constitution.”
In a detention memo filed Friday afternoon in court in Tennessee, federal prosecutors moved to have Abrego Garcia held in pretrial custody “because he poses a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight, and no condition or combination of conditions would ensure the safety of the community or his appearance in court.”
Federal prosecutors, in a detention memo filed this afternoon in court in Tennessee, have moved for pre-trial detention of Abrego Garcia, writing that “…the United States will request that the defendant be held in pretrial custody because he poses a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight, and no condition or combination of conditions would ensure the safety of the community or his appearance in court.”
“If convicted at trial, the defendant faces a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment for ‘each alien’ he transported,” the memo said, “Accordingly, the sentencing exposure for the defendant — given the number of undocumented aliens involved — goes well beyond the remainder of the defendant’s life.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member.
The Justice Department’s move to criminally prosecute Abrego Garcia represents the most aggressive step yet in the administration’s efforts to gather potentially incriminating information about Abrego Garcia’s background, following a federal judge’s order requiring the government to facilitate his return to the U.S. to be afforded due process in deportation proceedings.
The Trump administration has acknowledged in court filings that Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador in March was in error, because it violated a U.S. immigration court order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to his native country, according to immigration court records. An immigration judge had determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had allegedly terrorized him and his family.
The administration argued, however, that Abrego Garcia should not be returned to the U.S. because he is a member of the transnational Salvadoran gang MS-13, a claim his family and attorneys have denied. In recent weeks, Trump administration officials have been publicizing Abrego Garcia’s interactions with police over the years, despite a lack of corresponding criminal charges.
In March, Abrego Garcia’s family filed a lawsuit over his deportation. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ultimately ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that ruling on April 10.
Abrego Garcia was initially sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison but was believed to have later been transferred to a different facility in the country.
The criminal investigation that led to the charges was launched in April as federal authorities began scrutinizing the circumstances of a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to the sources. Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they had been working construction in Missouri.
According to body camera footage of the 2022 traffic stop, the Tennessee troopers — after questioning Abrego Garcia — discussed among themselves their suspicions that Abrego Garcia might be transporting people for money because nine people were traveling without luggage, but Abrego Garcia was not ticketed or charged.
The officers ultimately allowed Abrego Garcia to drive on with just a warning about an expired driver’s license, according to a report about the stop released last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Asked what circumstances have changed since Abrego Garcia was not taken in custody during that traffic stop in Tennessee, Bondi replied, “What has changed is Donald Trump is now president of the United States, and our borders are again secure, and thanks to the bright light that has been shined on Abrego Garcia — this investigation continued with actually amazing police work, and we were able to track this case and stop this international smuggling ring from continuing.”
Asked by ABC News’ Pierre Thomas asked whether this should be seen as resolving the separate civil case in Maryland in which a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “There’s a big difference between what the state of play was before the indictment and after the indictment. And so the reason why he is back and was returned was because an arrest warrant which was presented to the government and in El Salvador. So there’s, there’s a big difference there as far as whether it makes the ongoing litigation in Maryland moot. I would think so, but we don’t know about this. He just landed today.”
As ABC News first reported last month, the Justice Department had been quietly investigating the Tenessee traffic stop. As part of the probe, federal agents in late April visited a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama to question Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon who was the registered owner of the vehicle Abrego Garcia was driving when stopped on Interstate 40 east of Nashville, sources previously told ABC News. Hernandez-Reyes was not present at the traffic stop.
Hernandez-Reyes, 38, is currently serving a 30-month sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a prior felony conviction for illegal transportation of aliens.
After being granted limited immunity, Hernandez-Reyes allegedly told investigators that he previously operated a “taxi service” based in Baltimore. He claimed to have met Abrego Garcia around 2015 and claimed to have hired him on multiple occasions to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to various locations in the United States, sources told ABC News.
When details of the Tennessee traffic stop were first publicized, Abrego Garcia’s wife said her husband sometimes transported groups of fellow construction workers between job sites.
“Unfortunately, Kilmar is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world, which means he cannot respond to the claims,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura said in mid-April.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who flew to El Salvador and met with Abrego Garcia shortly after his deportation, said Friday that the Trump administration had “relented” regarding his return.
“After months of ignoring our Constitution, it seems the Trump Admin has relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and due process for Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen posted on X. “This has never been about the man — it’s about his constitutional rights & the rights of all.”
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager in 2012, according to court records. He had been living in Maryland for the past 13 years, and married Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, in 2019. The couple has one child together.
ABC News’ Laura Romero contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — On the heels of the public war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, anxiety is mounting among the remaining staff of the Musk-founded Department of Government Efficiency, with some staffers worried not only about their future in government but about potentially becoming future targets of the administration, according to sources.
Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could leave them vulnerable to political retribution and damage their future job prospects, multiple sources familiar with internal discussions told ABC News.
Some fear their association with DOGE could make them targets if the feud escalates and Trump moves to investigate the government-slashing initiative that Musk led until he stepped away last week, the sources said.
Others worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability, said sources.
Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, grew close to Trump over the last year as he campaigned for Trump’s reelection before helping launch DOGE to try to fulfill Trump’s goal of slashing the federal government. A quasi-governmental entity, DOGE has generated controversy as it’s shuttered government agencies and gained access to sensitive data.
The relationship between the president and the world’s richest person erupted into an exchange of insults on social media Thursday as Musk slammed Trump for “ingratitude” over the 2024 election while Trump threatened to “terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts.”
Amid the spat, War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump who has been critical of Musk for years, has been calling for the president to launch investigations into the billionaire following Thursday’s blowup.
“This is a national security issue,” Bannon said on his show Thursday. “We’re dealing with a very unstable individual out saying dangerous things about the president of the United States. He must be investigated … and all government contracts should be suspended.”
Several of Musk’s top allies who served as special government employees with Musk, including Steve Davis, his longtime lieutenant and DOGE operational lead, departed DOGE last week along with Musk. But many DOGE employees remain embedded across federal agencies, including at the Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, IRS, and Social Security Administration, sources said.
Still, Musk’s departure marked a major turning point for DOGE and how it will function day to day, given officials like Davis helped lead the DOGE team on a daily basis for months across the federal government.
In Musk’s absence, DOGE staff will continue to report to their respective agency leadership, sources said. Last week, the White House said that moving forward the “DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s cabinet and the president himself.”
Sources tell ABC News that some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni — with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal specifically recruiting former DOGE staff.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told ABC News in a statement, “The mission of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is a part of the DNA of the federal government and will continue under the direction of the President, his cabinet, and agency heads to enhance government efficiency and prioritize responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Asked about any potential investigations into DOGE, a White House adviser said the president was only focused on passing his signature spending bill, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Despite Trump and Musk’s public feud, the president has yet to publicly criticize DOGE during the war of words, and has previously lauded the initiative.
At a White House press availability in the Oval Office last week, Trump said Musk “delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington” and described DOGE as “the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations”.
Musk, for his part, downplayed the idea that DOGE needed him to survive as he left the Trump administration last week.
“DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism,” he said. “You wouldn’t ask the question, ‘Who would lead Buddhism?'”
Police cordon off Pearl Street following an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. Chet Strange/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning of an “elevated threat” facing the Jewish community in the wake of two attacks: Sunday’s Molotov cocktail assault in Boulder, Colorado, and last month’s killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C.
The Israel-Hamas conflict “may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters,” the FBI and DHS said in a public service announcement issued Thursday night. “Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States.”
The public should “remain vigilant” and “report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement,” the agencies said.
The PSA references Sunday’s attack in Boulder when Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, according to prosecutors. Fifteen people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured, officials said.
Soliman, who was arrested at the scene, allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, the FBI said.
Soliman later told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people,” court documents said. He “said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine),” documents said.
Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime as well as 118 state charges, including attempted murder, assault and explosives charges. He has not entered a plea in either case.
The PSA also mentions the May 21 killings of two Israeli Embassy staff members. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were fatally shot as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, “free, free Palestine,” according to police.
The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years.
“I am angry,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said a news conference in Boulder on Wednesday.
“It’s way past time for our political leaders, community groups, media outlets, tech platforms, faith leaders to take action before more Jewish blood is spilled. And it’s way past time to stop excusing antisemitic rhetoric,” he said.
Greenblatt urged the public to speak out against hate and shared small, specific actions people can take.
“Flag a hateful post, sign a petition, attend a service, make a comment in city council,” he said.
(CHICAGO) — A 36-year-old police officer who was a mother to a young daughter and four-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has been shot and killed while on duty in Chicago, police said.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Thursday night when Chicago Police Department officers assigned to the 6th (Gresham) District Tactical Team were on patrol when they attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a male suspect in the 8200 block of S. Drexel Avenue, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
Officers approached the suspect, but the individual immediately fled on foot into a nearby building, police said.
Law enforcement subsequently pursued the suspect into the building but were confronted by another individual who was armed inside of the residence which the suspect fled to, authorities continued.
“The armed offender fled the residence and was taken into custody,” police said. “An officer sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to an area hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.”
The police officer who died has not yet been named but Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said said she was a 36-year-old female officer who had been with the department for four years at the 6th District and was a mother to a young daughter.
“She lost her life tragically doing the job that she loved and that was one of the things that her mother said, she loved her job and the way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job and she wanted to make Chicago a better place,” Snelling said during a press conference. “She wanted to make it safer.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the entire city is mourning the loss of this officer.
“This young woman served honorably and courageously. I am calling on the entire city of Chicago to keep this officer’s family in your prayers along with our entire police department,” Mayor Johnson said. “Her young, energetic bold approach toward keeping us safe is the memory that we will honor.”
An additional officer sustained an injury to the wrist and was taken to the hospital in fair condition, police said, but no other injuries were reported.
Three firearms were located on the scene and multiple people were taken into custody, police said.
Overall, between Jan. 1 and April 30, 16 police officers in the United States have been feloniously killed in the line of duty and firearms were used in 75% of those incidents, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The leading circumstances surrounding officers’ deaths included activities related to responses to unlawful or suspicious activities, pursuits and traffic stops, according to the Justice Department.
Accidental law enforcement deaths, however, have decreased 68.2% when comparing the first four months of 2024 (22 deaths) with those of 2025 (7 deaths), with the leading causes of accidental deaths in 2025 being motor vehicle crashes and officers struck by vehicle.
The investigation into the death of the 36-year-old officer is currently ongoing.
